Lauren Long/The Post-StandardAndy Jakubowski (left) and Herb Ratchford, who handle beautification duties with the Syracuse Department of Public Works, chased down a burglar who had targeted a woman's car.

Herb Ratchford and Andy Jakubowski are officially known as laborers for the Syracuse Department of Public Works. Every day, they pick up trash and cut tall grass. Their duties, in a elemental way, call for them to make the city noticeably better.

On June 2, faced with a different kind of test, they did their jobs.

Andy and Herb were in a city truck in the early afternoon. Their riding mowers were on an attached trailer. They needed to cut some grass along Hiawatha Boulevard, which left them with the choice of parking in a couple of different places. Herb, 48, made a spontaneous decision he speaks of as "God’s will." He pulled into a parking lot at the Babies "R" Us store. As he did, a tall man in a backpack nearly bumped into the truck as the man walked forcefully through the lot.

"I kind of gave him a glance, like what is this?" Herb said.

The man hardly noticed. He kept walking toward the store. Herb and Andy shrugged it off and rolled a mower off the trailer. Andy, 32, started cutting grass. Herb was busy preparing the second mower when the tall man sprinted past him, headed toward North Salina Street. It was clear that the man "had done something wrong," Herb said, an instinct confirmed by the screams of a woman who ran into the parking lot. Herb described it as "the kind of screaming that stays with you, that goes down into you, that you can’t forget."

"Stop him!" the woman cried. "He’s got my purse!"

Andy and Herb are Syracuse guys. They both graduated from Henninger High School. They love the immediate good feeling they get from their work, the way cut grass or bagged garbage can instantly change the appearance of a street. They take their jobs seriously. Neither of them can understand how some landscapers don’t bother to bag litter before cutting the grass, because few things look worse than using a mower to scatter garbage across a freshly cut lawn.

Herb said he’s also frustrated with a general cruelty and selfishness he’s witnessed all too often. He’s watched people drive away after crashing their vehicles into someone else’s car. Too many times, he’s had to call 911 after watching grown men — walking along public streets — spontaneously haul off and punch a girlfriend or a wife.

"We see it all," Herb said. "I’m just tired of it." So he had no intention of allowing this guy to get away. Herb began running in pursuit, while doing his best to call the police on his cell phone. As for the tall man, he neared the place where Andy — in ear muffs — was riding on his mower. Andy, who couldn’t hear Herb shouting his name, glanced up as the man hurtled past. Andy turned and looked at Herb. Their eyes met. They’ve been partners a long time.

Andy, in his work boots, jumped from the mower and took off after the man.

The chase continued for about a block along North Salina Street. The tall man, worn out, slowed to a walk. He was still carrying the woman’s wallet, recalls Andy, who caught up and told the man to hand it over. To Andy’s surprise, the man surrendered the wallet, all the while saying he didn’t want to deal with the police because he was already wanted on several warrants. Then the man began to walk away.

"Wait a minute," Andy said. "You’re not going anywhere."

The man broke into a sprint. Andy chased him and made a running tackle from behind. That’s how Herb found them seconds later, the tall man cursing and struggling as he sprawled on the ground, while Andy — a former Henninger lacrosse player — crouched over him, using the straps on the man’s backpack as a kind of harness to keep him down.

City police arrived and took over. Sgt. Gary Bulinski, a police spokesman, said the 37-year-old victim — who declined to be interviewed — was shopping in Babies "R" Us when a staff member saw the suspect going into the woman’s SUV. The woman ran outside, screaming, as the man fled. He still had the victim’s cell phone and GPS device when he was captured, Bulinski said.

Richard Kellar, 19, of Syracuse, was charged with misdemeanor counts of petit larceny and criminal possession of a stolen property, Bulinski said. Kellar was already wanted on an open container warrant in Syracuse and a petit larceny warrant in Fulton, according to Bulinski, who said police "always appreciate it when citizens take the initiative and help us solve a crime."

As for Herb and Andy, they see what they did as part of their job. They were hired, after all, to make the city better.